The Baptist Faith and Message is the Southern Baptist Convention confession of faith. It summarizes key Southern Baptist thought in the areas of the Scriptures (Bible) and their authority, the nature of God as expressed by the Trinity, the spiritual condition of man, God's plan of grace and salvation, the purpose of the local church, ordinances, evangelism, Christian education, interaction with society, religious liberty, and the family. The Parkerson Avenue family firmly affirms and agrees with the BF&M 2000.
The full text of our beliefs (The Baptist Faith and Message) is available here
STATEMENT OF FAITH
This statement of faith does not exhaust the extent of our beliefs
WE BELIEVE in the scriptures of the Old and New Testament canons as verbally inspired by God; inerrant in the original writings, and the supreme and final authority for faith and life. (II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:21)
WE BELIEVE that there is only one God (Yahweh) (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 45:5) and this one God created all things (Genesis 1:1; Colossians 1:16; Revelation 4:11), upholds all things (Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3), and governs all things (I Chronicles 29:11; Psalms 103:19; Philippians 2:10-11).
WE BELIEVE that the one true God is eternally existing in three distinct persons (Matthew 3:16; Matthew 28:19; John 14:16; II Corinthians 13:14) the Father (John 6:27), the Son (Matthew 1:22), and the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-4).
WE BELIEVE that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16; Luke 3:22)
WE BELIEVE that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35) and born of the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:34; Isaiah 7:14), therefore being both fully God (John 1:14) and fully man (Acts 2:22).
WE BELIEVE that the Father sent Jesus into the world to reveal to man the true nature of God (I John 5:20), to reveal God's love for fallen man (I John 4:9), to become acquainted with man's fallen condition (Hebrews 2:18), to destroy the works of the devil (I John 3:8), and to be the Savior of the World (John 3:17; I John 3:14).
WE BELIEVE that God created man in His own image (Genesis 1:27) and for His own pleasure (Revelation 4:11; Colossians 1:16).
WE BELIEVE that the first man, Adam, sinned and from Adam all men have inherited the same sinful nature (Ephesians 2:3). Therefore, all men incur the same penalty for sin as incurred by Adam which is death - both physical and spiritual separation from God (Romans 5:12; Romans 6:23; II Thessalonians 1:9).
WE BELIEVE that Jesus Christ, sinless Himself (Hebrews 4:15; I Peter 2:21-23), died on the cross bearing our sins (II Corinthians 5:21; I Peter 2:24) justifying (Romans 5:9) and cleansing (I John 1:7) us by His blood; making possible the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:14) and the reconciliation of all things to God (Colossians 1:20).
WE BELIEVE that Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day (Acts 2:24) in triumph over death (I Corinthians 15: 20-22), hell (Acts 2:31), and Satan (Colossians 1:13; Colossians 2:15).
WE BELIEVE that for forty days after His resurrection Jesus appeared to certain eye-witnesses as proof of His bodily resurrection (Acts 1:3; John 20; I Corinthians 15:4-8) and then ascended unto the right hand of God (Mark 16:19). God has made Jesus Lord of all things (Acts 2:36; Romans 14:9; Ephesians 2:20-23; Colossians 1:18) and to those that come to Him, He alone (I Timothy 2:5) is able to save them to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25). And Jesus remains at the right hand of God (Acts 7:56), our advocate with the Father (I John 2:1) continually making intercession for us (Romans 8:34).
WE BELIEVE that salvation is a gift of God (Romans 5:15; Ephesians 2:8). It is given by God's grace (Romans 3:24) to those who acknowledge their sin (I John 1:9), repent and turn from their sin (Acts 3:19; Acts 20:21), call upon Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:13; Colossians 2:6), and have faith in Jesus to save them (Romans 3:24-25; Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:8).
WE BELIEVE that a person by trusting in His own works of righteousness can never save himself (Romans 3:27-28; Romans 4:5; Galatians 2:16-21) or improve his standing with God (Galatians 3:10), for a man is complete (Colossians 2:10) and acceptable to God (Ephesians 1:6), only in Christ.
WE BELIEVE that eternal security is the divine provision that is everlasting for all true believers (John 5:24; Romans 8:38-39; I Corinthians 1:20-22; Ephesians 1;13-14; I Peter 1:3-5).
WE BELIEVE that the Holy Spirit is in the world convicting men of sin (John 16:8). The Spirit is also given by Jesus (Acts 3:32) to indwell (John 16:17; John 20:22) and empower (Acts 1:8) those who believe. The baptism of the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:16; Acts 1:4-5), like salvation, is also a gift from God (Luke 24:49) and can only be received through faith (Luke 11:13; Galatians 3:14).
WE BELIEVE that the Christian life should be a life of sanctification and holiness (I Thessalonians 4:3-7; Hebrews 12:14; I Peter 1:15-16). Such a life cannot be lived out through a person's own efforts (Galatians 3:3), but this life is also a gift from God (Romans 6:22), a by-product of fellowship and communion with the Holy Spirit (II Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:13-16; I Thessalonians 5:23). The Christian's responsibility is to walk in the light of the Spirit (Galatians 5; Romans 8; I John 1:7), to walk in faith (Colossians 2:6-7), to present our bodies a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1), and to be renewed in the spirit of our minds (Ephesians 4:23) by sowing to the Spirit (Galatians 6:8).
WE BELIEVE in the bodily resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust (Acts 24:15). The dead will be resurrected to stand before Jesus Christ in the judgment (Romans 14:9-12; Hebrews 9:27; I Peter 4:5).
WE BELIEVE that those people not found written in the Book of Life (Revelation 20:15), who have not obeyed the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (I Thessalonians 1:8-9), will be eternally punished by being cast into the lake of fire (Matthew 13:41-42; Revelation 20:15). But those people who believe in Jesus Christ will receive eternal life (Romans 6:23; I John 5:13), and live forever in His presence (I Thessalonians 4:17; Revelation 21:3).
WE BELIEVE in the physical return of Jesus Christ to the earth (Revelation 19). He will come in power and great glory (Luke 21:27) to take vengeance on the enemies of God (II Thessalonians 1:7-8; 2:8; Revelation 19:19-21). He will also come with ten thousand of His saints (Jude 14; Colossians 3:4) to execute judgment upon all men (Jude 15), to be glorified and admired in all that believe in Him (I Thessalonians 1:10), to reign on the earth for one thousand years (Revelation 20:4), and to establish His everlasting Kingdom (II Samuel 7:13; Daniel 7:14; I Peter 1:11). After he returns the elements will be burned up with fervent heat (Luke 21:33; II Peter 3:10; Revelation 21:1) and He will create new heavens and a new earth (Isaiah 65:17).
WE BELIEVE that the Church of Jesus Christ should live in expectancy (Luke 21:28; Revelation 22:20) and readiness (Matthew 24:44; I Thessalonians 5:6) for the imminent return of their Lord (Matthew 24:42; Matthew 25:1-13). Those saints which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord (I Thessalonians 4:15) will be caught up to meet Jesus in the air and shall ever be with the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 17:36; I Thessalonians 4:17).
